Nurses sleeping at Montreal-area hospital if they work two 16-hour shifts
Private agency nurses who are desperately needed to fill shifts at a hospital near Montreal are sleeping at the hospital between two 16-hour shifts because they live far away and the hospital can't recruit nurses who live in the area.
Local health authorities also help pay for the mileage of any out-of-region nurses.
It's not a new problem in the West-Monteregie region, the local health board said.
In the summer of 2022, it resorted to offering nurses free accommodation under certain conditions if they agreed to take on shifts at Hopital du Suroit in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, when the impact of COVID-19 on staffing was still acute.
"The placement agencies we work with through the Centre d'acquisition gouvernementale were unable to meet our needs in terms of nursing staff," the West-Monteregie health board explained in an email.
To fill the huge gaps in staffing, incentives were created for private nurses and public sector nurses to help persuade them to agree to travel and also agree to work two double shifts of 16 hours in a row.
They include having their mileage repaid at a rate of $0.54/km if the nurses live more than 50 kilometres away from the hospital and free accommodation in hospital rooms set aside for this purpose.
"This does not change the hospitalization capacity," the West-Monteregie health board emphasized.
The interim president of the FIQ Monteregie-West union that represents nurses in the region said the health board is doing what it has to do to provide health care services to the population.
"It's the lesser evil. Anyone who works 16 hours in a row needs rest," said Maxime Laforge-Steben in an interview. But he said it's a symptom of a much deeper problem in the healthcare system, a problem he lays at the feet of the Quebec government.
"For us, the solution is to improve the quality of the working conditions quickly, and the salaries and that's why negotiations (with the government) are underway."
"The private nurses that do the 16 hours have a better salary than those in the public system," he said.
Fewer than 50 nurses have taken advantage of the incentives, the health board reported, but every extra nurse helps, it said.
Closing a unit in Suroit means the loss of 32 hospital beds, which affects patient care and creates critical overcrowding in the emergency room.
The challenges recruiting nurse, public or private are blamed in part on the remote locations of the hospitals located southwest of Montreal, including Hopital Barrie-Memorial in Ormstown.
"Attractiveness remains a major challenge. Many regions of Quebec share this challenge," the health board said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Latest updates on air quality alerts, and when the smoke may reach Ontario and Quebec
Wildfires have led Environment Canada to issue air quality advisories for parts of B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories, as forecasters warn the smoke could drift farther east.
Ellen DeGeneres addresses the 'hurtful' end of her talk show in new stand-up set
Ellen DeGeneres is reflecting on how her talk show came to an end in her newest Netflix special, 'Ellen's Last Stand ... Up Tour.'
Steal a car, lose your driver's licence under new Ontario proposal
Repeat car thieves may face lengthy licence bans under proposed changes to Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act.
B.C. brings in law on name changes on day that child killer's new identity revealed
The BC NDP have tabled legislation aimed at stopping people who have committed certain heinous acts from changing their names.
What to pack during an emergency
Knowing what to have at home, or take with you for an evacuation, can be useful and even life-saving.
Regulated area for invasive box tree moth expanded to parts of the Maritimes
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has added much of the Maritimes to a regulated area for an invasive species.
Already expensive, planning for fertility treatment difficult as costs vary widely
Being unable to have a child naturally can be extremely difficult. But when you factor in the high costs of fertility treatments, the range of individual circumstances and the fact that the industry itself is secretive about fees, it can make the whole ordeal even more devastating and hard to plan for.
A healthy lifestyle can mitigate genetic risk for early death by 62%, study suggests
Even if your genetics put you at greater risk for early death, a healthy lifestyle could help you significantly combat it, according to a new study.
Avs forward Valeri Nichushkin suspended at least six months
Colorado Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin was suspended for at least six months without pay and placed in Stage 3 of the league's player assistance program.